Overview & Reviews

Acura is an upscale automaker known for offering cars with impressive levels of luxury, features and performance. It's come a long way in a short time, however, as the history of Acura is relatively brief. Parent company Honda introduced the Acura brand to the U.S. market in 1986 in an effort to create a separate luxury division for its products. At first, it was just a two-car show: the Legend sedan, which was the first true Japanese luxury car sold in America, and the Integra sport coupe and sedan.

Though essentially a marketing creation for the North American market, the Acura brand was immediately successful. Consumers liked the features, performance and upscale image of Acura cars, along with the fact that Acuras were backed by Honda's reputation for reliability and low ownership costs. In 1991, Acura introduced its crown jewel: the all-aluminum NSX sports car, which offered performance close to that of other exotic cars while undercutting them in price.

As Acura's product line grew in the 1990s, however, the company struggled a bit. Some of its products were duds, and it risked alienating loyal customers when it replaced the Legend and Integra names with alphanumeric designations. The company jumped on the hot luxury SUV bandwagon in the mid-'90s with the SLX. Unfortunately, the SLX was just a rebadged version of an Isuzu SUV, and its quality did not match customers' expectations.

For the new millennium, Acura revamped its product range. An all-new SUV called the MDX debuted, sporting numerous family-friendly features, including a third-row seat. The Integra was replaced with the RSX sport coupe, and an all-new entry-level sport sedan called the TSX was introduced after that. A complete redesign of its most popular model, the midsize TL sedan, followed, as did a redesign of its flagship RL luxury sedan.

By mid-decade the NSX was gone, but Acura filled out its model lineup with the street-performance-oriented RDX compact crossover, the TSX wagon and the ZDX, a fastback-styled crossover that placed unique styling over practicality. Today Acura is still trying to find its ideal niche but there's no denying the quality of Acura's vehicles, nor their appealing mix of performance, technology and value.

User Reviews:

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  RL3.5 a winner - 1997 Acura RL
  By cbsimike - July 25 - 2:00 am

  I have been driving my 3.5RL Premium (includes heated seats) for 1 1/2 years. My wife and I love the looks, comfort, and driveability of this car. It was purchased as a certified vehicle and drove as new when I purchased. I currently have 75xxx miles and it still drives like new. I got a great car at 1/2 price of new one.

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  2017 MDX - 2017 Acura MDX
  By John L Sipe - July 24 - 9:33 pm

  Love the car except for the transmission. Poor performance for a quality vehicle.

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  Awesome Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By cdean - July 24 - 3:53 am

  No regrets on buying this car. Excellent all away around. Handling, Style, Comfort, Instrumentation is so cool, of course hands down on Sound and Navigation system the best! and definetely the quality of this car is out far outstanding. If are thinking buyin a BMW, Lexus or other high priced Sporters, take a test drive of this puppy and see the difference. THis car is far less expensive than above. Highly recommended and find out yourself. I allready put on 750 miles in one week, now need to get another car just to cut down on mileage, i want this car to last for a very long time.

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  Loved It - 1995 Acura Legend
  By Decksmooth - July 24 - 2:00 am

  Overall, I loved this car, but there were a few problems. I bought the car with 45000 miles. The transmission started to go at 92000. I sold it at 102000 and got top $ thanks to Edmunds even though the tranny was bad. One more complaint-- while backing out of the driveway after snowplows had created a small to medium snowbank, the front bumper snapped off completely. The directional lights (located in the bumper) conveniently disconnected with minimal damage The body shop guy told me it was designed to happen that way during head-on collisions. He ordered a new piece to reconnect the bumper & $200 later I was back on the road with the same bumper.

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  Disappointed - 2003 Acura RSX
  By roenick - July 24 - 2:00 am

  Thought I would be getting better performance but in the end,this car is not so quick. Ive decided to trade in for a WRX which is much quicker, more fun to drive, and has AWD system. There are superior cars out there at this price level - make sure you shop around and dont get lured in by a commercial that makes the RSX seem like a sports car. Its not.

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  4dr zoom with class - 2003 Acura TL
  By lefty2 - July 24 - 2:00 am

  Great automobile for the 4dr boy racer. All around very good car with few flaws and excellent value. I just wish the Japanese would provide a 8 way power seat for the passenger considering the class of car. This car is very easy on fuel for such a powerful engine.

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  nsx - 1996 Acura NSX
  By dargos - July 23 - 2:00 am

  this car iz cool, you cant get any thing better for that price.it is like a lamborginie but cheaper.

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  Blows my former Lexus NXt200 Away - 2017 Acura RDX
  By Gary - July 22 - 11:30 am

  I owned a Lexus NXt200 for the last two years and have been a Lexus guy for 20 years. Still love their cars. However, I have been driving the the RDX for the last two months and can definitively say it is far and away a better car than the NXt for my money. In short: the RDX interior feels more luxurious; acceleration is much smoother; car is quieter; and the technology such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure and blind spot monitoring make long trips much less stressful. You almost feel like you are a pilot monitoring a plane on auto pilot versus constantly turning cruise control on and off and fighting your way through traffic. Its more like you glide your way through traffic on the interstate. Of course, no car is perfect and there is still room for tweaks and improvements. For example, if you are on the interstate in the left lane and going around a long curve the car senses the the car ahead of you in the right lane is actually in front of you and slows down unnecessarily. But this is a rare and minor annoyance, especially compared the the raft of positive attributes this car possesses. I highly recommend you check it out during your due diligence period when shopping for a mid-size SUV. I am extremely happy I did.

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  Luxury, Perfomance & Value - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Rybes - July 22 - 6:30 am

  After looking at the 325, A4 and IS250, the TSX was the obvious choice. Comparable 325 was $36k with storage issues and outdated interior. Competitors options are standard on this car plus maintenance is almost non existent. Quicker, quieter and better quality than the S60 I was driving. Much has changed for the better since my 94 Accord EX. Definitely recommend to anyone looking for an entry level luxury and look forward to my next Acura!

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  awesome - 1996 Acura Integra
  By tROY - July 22 - 2:00 am

  this car is awesome! and pretty quick too.